In one example, a method includes obtaining cluster and machine configuration information, sending a restore request for one or more machines, and loading a backup of a virtual machine, the backup having been created by a federated backup process involving the physical proxy node, and the virtual machine includes data that resides on a virtual federated database that is an element of a cluster environment and to which respective databases of each of a plurality of nodes of the cluster environment are mapped. Next, the virtual machine is taken offline after the backup of the virtual machine has been loaded, and after the virtual machine has been taken offline, the virtual machine is removed from the node where it resides. The backup of the virtual machine is then restored, and the restored virtual machine brought online, after which the restored virtual machine is enabled as a cluster-wide virtual machine.